New Times / Letter To The Editor

The following article was posted on June 18th, 2014, in the New Times - Volume 28, Issue 47 [ Submit a Story ]

The following articles were printed from New Times [newtimesslo.com] - Volume 28, Issue 47

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The Tortoise and the Hare?

Laura Mordaunt - San Luis Obispo

In response to the June 5 New Times article “Now what?” how can Supervisor Caren Ray refer to herself as a Tortoise? In the June primary, there were 119 supervisor positions up for re-election in 58 California counties. The results showed that out of 119 incumbents, 63.9 percent were re-elected; 24.4 percent retired; 6.7 percent came in first place; 3.4 percent were defeated; and 1.7 percent of the incumbents came in second place. Ray was in the last category, and only one of a few incumbents that came in second place in the entire state. That is significant!

On election night, Ray declared herself the Tortoise and Lynn Compton the Hare. Looking at the facts, Compton won the June primary, placing first with an excess of 738 votes, creating a “5 percent differential,” while Ray placed second. A more accurate story line is “Ray was the Hare going into the election as a governor-appointed incumbent since October 2013, and Compton was the Tortoise, an unknown.” It is important to note that Compton won 21 consolidated precincts (6,213 votes) while Ray won eight consolidated precincts (5,475 votes) and one was a tie.

The story line is wrong for this race; Compton was the underdog, not the Hare.